US Air Force Adding 1,200 Jobs to Cyber Defense Program

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The United States Air Force is shoring up its cyber defense
efforts by adding more than 1,200 new airmen to posts within the
cyber community.

The service people, who will be added over the next few years,
are part of a broad attempt to improve the nation's overall
cyber defense, or protection against attacks against
computers and computer networks, Air Force officials said. The
extra personnel will also help tackle one of the department's
biggest challenges: poring through the massive amounts of
collected data.

"This is a big data problem on steroids," said Lt. Gen. Robert
Otto, deputy chief of staff for intelligence, surveillance and
reconnaissance,
according to Military.com. "If you look at the amount of data
that is transmitted every day, it is going to take a tremendous
amount of investment."

By strengthening the Air Force's cyber strategy, the military
will be able to better support the wider intelligence-gathering
community, Otto added.

"This is an exciting time for cyber military planning," he said.
"We will see a lot of progress over the next few years."

Yet, the current fiscal environment has created uncertainty
throughout the military, even as efforts within the cyber realm
continue to grow.

"It is a delicate balance between efficiency and effectiveness,"
Lt. Gen. Michael Basla, the Air Force's chief information
officer, told Military.com. "We will strive to bring greater
capability to our warfighters with cost in mind. The demand for
full-spectrum cyber capability across the department has
increased significantly."